Get to know the Judges

Our panel of judges includes industry leaders, innovators, and trailblazers in CX and technology.

Meet the Head Judges

Ian Golding

The Leader of the Year Award

  • Customer Experience Consultancy Ltd

    Global Customer Experience Specialist

    A highly influential freelance CX consultant, Ian advises leading companies on CX strategy, measurement, improvement and employee advocacy techniques and solutions. To date, Ian has worked in 61 countries across multiple industries including retail, financial services, logistics, manufacturing, telecoms and pharmaceuticals deploying CX tools and methodologies. An internationally renowned speaker and blogger on the subject of CX, Ian was also the first to become a CCXP (Certified Customer Experience Professional) Authorised Resource & Training Provider and is the chair and host of CX awards programmes around the world.

Diane Magers

The Inclusion Award

  • Experience Catalysts

    Founder and CEO

    Diane Magers, CCXP, is a visionary in Experience Management (XM), known for driving customer and employee-centric transformation. As a strategic leader, she partners with organizations to embed XM disciplines that fuel growth and loyalty. With a background in psychology, research, and business strategy, Diane has led enterprise-wide experience initiatives, proving the value of human-centered design. A sought-after speaker, mentor, and former CEO of the CXPA, she empowers businesses to operationalize experience, measure impact, and create lasting value for customers and employees.

Adrian Swinscoe

The Culture Award

  • Punk CX

    Author, podcaster and advisor

    Described as an experimental CX thought leader and visionary, Adrian Swinscoe is a best-selling author, Forbes contributor, speaker, investor, advisor and aspirant CX Punk.

    He has been growing and helping develop customer-focused large and small businesses for over 25 years now.

    His clients have included brands such as Adobe, Apple, Costa Coffee, ING, Intercontinental Hotel Group, KFC, KPMG, ING, Lloyds, Harper Collins, Médecins Sans Frontières, Nespresso, Olympus, Pearson, Philips, Sky and Zoom, as well as numerous tech vendors and many smaller and medium-sized businesses.

Oremeyi Akah

The Rising Star Award

  • Interswitch

    Chief Customer Officer

    Oremeyi Akah is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at Interswitch, leading CX strategy across six business lines to ensure seamless, value-driven interactions. Starting her career as an implementation engineer, she played a key role in West Africa’s first MasterCard EMV processor. A Cambridge MBA graduate, she drives customer obsession, AI-driven insights, and culture transformation. Passionate about Africa’s growth, she founded Africans build Africa, an NGO focused on youth empowerment.

Sandra Thompson

The Collaboration Award

  • Ei Evolution

    Founding Director

    1st Goleman Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Coach, TEDx, Trainer (& entertainer, apparently), CX & EX consultant. Author of a guide to grow your own EQ. Master of Authentic Empathy, keynote speaker and foster mum to Billy the Dog 🐾🐾

John Sills

The Innovation Award

  • The Foundation

    Managing Partner

    John Sills is Managing Partner at the customer-led growth consultancy, The Foundation, and author of Leadership Book of the Year 2023, The Human Experience.

    25 years ago, he started his career on a market stall in Essex, and since then has worked in and with companies around the world to make things better for customers.

    Before joining The Foundation, John spent twelve years at HSBC, latterly as Head of Customer Innovation. His first book on the topic - The Human Experience - was published by Bloomsbury in February 2023, and his writing has been featured in The Guardian, The FT, and Management Today.

Ejieme Eromosele

The Woman in CX Technology Award

  • Quiq

    VP, Customer Growth

    Ejieme Eromosele is an award-winning CX and Customer Success executive with 20 years of experience leading customer programs for Fortune 500s, The New York Times, and startups. She specializes in customer-led growth, building customer success programs, and expanding global operations. As Founder of Success in Black, she champions DEI in CS. A board member, speaker, and angel investor, she advises pre-seed and seed-stage startups. She holds a BA in Economics and an MBA in Strategy & Global Business from NYU.

Christopher Brooks

The Solopreneur of the Year Award

  • Lexden Limited

    Global Customer Experience Expert

    Head of Consulting for award winning Lexden CX (2007). Recognised as CX Today's 2024 CX Leader's CX Influencer of the Year and 2024 CX Culture Champion of the Year. Winner of International CX Awards GOLD for B2B Marketing. Founder of the Customer Experience World Games Foundation.

    Helping CX leaders and teams elevate their customer experience excellence to be a leading business practice through customer centricity in their organisations.

Meet the Category Judges

Olga Potaptseva

The Innovation Award

  • European Customer Consultancy (ECC)

    CEO/Founder

    Olga is the Founder of ECC & CXPanda. She collaborates with organisations worldwide to develop customer-informed operating models. Olga's approach centres on activating five fundamental pillars to foster customer-centric harmony: Leadership, Technology, People & Culture, CX Management & Processes.

    With 15 years of experience in leadership roles and more recently as a consultant, Olga noticed that companies invest considerable effort and budget into CX education and alignment without sufficiently prioritising operationalising CX. She is on a mission to change that!

Lina Yahya

The Inclusion Award

  • 4Front

    Founder & CXO

    With over 25 years of experience, including over a decade dedicated to Customer and Employee experience, Lina is an Advocate & Passionate Contributor towards improving experiences everywhere. She has been a
    recognized leader in the field, and was honored as one of the Middle East's most influential Women
    and named in the Top 50 Under 50 by the Female Founders
    Initiative Global.
    As a strategic growth driver, Lina has recently decided to exit the traditional 9 to 5 and venture out to champion the customer voice, developing impactful growth strategies, and advocating for
    operational excellence to ensure businesses’ success.

Beth Karawan

The Solopreneur of the Year Award

  • ImprintCX

    Co-founder & EVP

    Beth is a dynamic leader with over 25 years of expertise in consumer and shopper insights, market research, and strategic storytelling. She excels at bridging disciplines to craft customer-centric strategies that connect data-driven insights with actionable business outcomes. Beth’s ability to drive growth spans B2C and B2B sectors, leveraging her deep knowledge of brand strategy, customer experience (CX), and organizational alignment. Beth offers fresh perspectives on uniting brand management with customer experience and is passionate about helping brands build meaningful connections and achieve sustainable success.

Gergana Natcheva

The Innovation Award

  • Conectys

    Head of Business Solutions

    I'm a seasoned Bid Director with a passion for solving complex business challenges in the ICT & BPO industries. With over a decade of experience, I’ve led multi-million-dollar deals in CX, Trust & Safety, Infrastructure, and Applications across industries like Energy, Retail, Travel, and the New Economy. A servant leader, I thrive on mentoring high-performing, multi-national teams and driving E2E deal orchestration—from launch to design to implementation. Certified in APMP, Agile, SAFe, and Scrum, I bring a 360-degree approach to bid management, project execution and value delivery.

Anne Dawson

The Culture Award

  • CallMiner

    Sr Manager, Employee Development & Training

    Anne Dawson brings over a decade of experience to her role in the field of employee development & training. With a robust educational background including a Masters in Organizational Management, she is known for her collaborative approach, working closely with executive leadership to identify knowledge and skills gaps within the workforce and develop formal blended training programs to address these needs, ultimately driving organizational success through strategic talent development initiatives. Most recently, she was awarded the Impact Award from CallMiner for her work.

Valerie Peck

The Solopreneur of the Year Award

  • Elevate-X Consulting Group, LLC

    Partner

    Valerie leads Elevate-X Consulting, where she helps organizations integrate customer intelligence into every aspect of their business, from strategy to data activation. Her expertise in customer intelligence-driven experience management has been honed over a distinguished career marked by strategic leadership and a commitment to innovation. Valerie is an entrepreneur and developed the pioneering experience mapping tool SuiteCX and led several consultancies before selling SuiteCX two years ago. Now, back in consulting, her approach integrates data-driven and 1-to-1 management consulting principles with the ‘how-to’ of technology.

Julie Morgan

The Collaboration Award

  • Informa

    Customer Experience Director

    "Julie is an established leader in Product, Strategy, and Customer Experience (CX), driving revenue growth through customer-led innovation. At Informa, she shapes growth strategy and commercial success, strengthening CX and product capability across the organization.

    Her career spans consulting and inhouse leadership roles at The Telegraph, Capgemini, and Travelzoo, where she has delivered market-leading products to meet evolving customer need. Passionate about capability building, she has grown teams, launched Centres of Excellence, and championed customer-centric change at scale."

Zack Hamilton

The Leader of the Year Award

  • parcelLab

    SVP, Head of Growth Strategy and Experience

    Zack Hamilton is a distinguished retail and eCommerce strategist, renowned for his transformative leadership as Chief Experience & Strategy Officer. With over two decades of deep retail expertise, Zack has become a pivotal figure in shaping the future of customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and post-purchase experience (PPX) strategies for global brands. As an eCommerce visionary, Zack has been instrumental in developing and implementing digital-first strategies that seamlessly blend online and offline retail experiences.

Claire Pampe

The Collaboration Award

  • FIP Consulting Ltd

    CX Consultant

    Claire is a CX leader with 20+ years of experience in customer journey mapping, service optimisation, and strategic transformation. She thrives on collaboration, breaking down silos to create customer-first solutions that drive real business impact. Claire doesn’t just identify pain points—she turns them into actionable improvements, securing buy-in from stakeholders and ensuring CX initiatives are both strategic and practical. Whether it’s boosting retention, increasing NPS, or optimising processes, she delivers measurable results with clarity, warmth, and a data-driven mindset.

Jodie Mountford

The Rising Star Award

  • InMoment

    Enterprise Commercial Director

    With extensive experience spanning over a decade in CX, coupled with over 18 years of overseeing global marketing strategies and 6+ years in pivotal commercial roles, Jodie brings a wealth of insight into the significance of financial accountability and delivering measurable ROI. She applies this depth of knowledge to effectively support her clients in achieving their CX objectives.

    Jodie has garnered notable success by implementing CX initiatives that streamline operational costs, boost efficiency and customer satisfaction, and bolster client retention rates.

Elaine Barnes

The Leader of the Year Award

  • Consultant

    Women in CX Leader of the Year 2023, I’m a coach, mentor and leader who’s spent 15+ years at Board level making sure the customer always has a seat at the table. As Exec Director of Change and a NED leading a customer experience committee, I help organisations turn CX ambition into action. I've lived and worked across Asia, India, Poland, the US and UK. Through my coaching, I support people to find their sparkle, just as I champion the customer voice in every room.

Helen Luty

The Culture Award

  • Landmark Information Group

    Head of Customer Experience

    Helen has over 20 years’ in Customer Service Leadership across a variety of B2B and B2C businesses.
    As Head of Customer Experience for Landmark Information Group, Helen covers service, support and success across a variety of teams, winning awards for Best B2B CX, CX Professional of the Year, CXM Stars 2024 and 2025.
    Helen’s passion for making a difference, cascades throughout the CX Teams and has resulted in high engagement scores - meaning happy teams and happy customers.

Anne Nyachomba

The Innovation Award

  • Customer Experience professional

    Anne is a visionary leader in customer experience and digital transformation, with 19+ years of driving customer-centric innovation across financial services, tech, healthcare, and non-profits. She specializes in human-centered design, service innovation, process re-engineering, journey mapping, and data-driven decisions to boost satisfaction, reduce churn, and drive business growth. She has led large-scale digital initiatives, helping organizations adopt and optimize tech solutions to enhance service delivery, performance, and growth.

Weronika Rosiak-Jedz

The Woman in CX Technology Award

  • Total Experience

    Founder & CX Consultant

    I'm a passionate CX Designer, Trainer, and Consultant empowering businesses to transform customer and employee experiences into impactful Total Experience practices. I help organizations deeply understand and optimize Customer Journeys to drive meaningful change. Experienced in B2B/B2C service design, journey mapping, and Design Thinking facilitation across banking, fintech, IT, consulting, and healthcare. I've worked for Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, EY, SimCorp, and Oppa. Winner of the Customer Experience World Games (Polish edition). Speaker and author on CX practices, blending empathy, strategy, and action.

Kerry Sudale

The Culture Award

  • Sudale Search & Select

    Founder

    Kerry Sudale is a passionate advocate for inclusive hiring and a recognised leader in recruiting for Customer Experience (CX) and Contact Centre leadership roles. As the Founder of Sudale Search, Kerry champions a people-first approach, believing that the employee experience journey begins long before a new hire steps through the door, it starts at the very first point of contact. With a career rooted in creating equitable hiring processes and driving flexible working cultures, she has partnered with businesses to elevate their talent acquisition strategies, focusing on output and results over mere "face time.”

Marina Bezuglova

The Collaboration Award

  • Ipsos

    Executive Director

    With a PhD in Medicine and over 20 years of experience in senior management roles at leading international research organizations like GfK and Ipsos, Marina brings a unique blend of scientific understanding and practical leadership to her work as a CX and EX consultant. Her expertise lies in: - Developing and implementing human-centric strategies that prioritize understanding and fulfilling human needs. - Guiding forward-thinking companies through CX and EX diagnostics, strategy development, and corporate value alignment. Marina is a recipient of the Kotler Award and author of "Finding Serenity amid the Chaos”

Joanna Carr

The Innovation Award

  • Joanna Carr is an internationally recognised Customer Experience (CX) leader, recently ranked #17 in the 2025 Top CX Influencers. With a strong track record across sectors, including energy, SaaS, manufacturing, retail, and legal, she helps organisations embed CX as a core business driver. Joanna is co-founder of the Nordic B2B CX Conference, host of The CXPod, and a judge for the International Customer Experience Awards. She’s passionate about enabling customer-centred growth through collaboration, insight, and innovation.

Olena Rozanova

The Collaboration Award

  • LR

    Customer Experience Lead

    Elena is an accomplished professional in Customer Experience (CX) and marketing, with extensive expertise in developing and implementing CX strategies. She currently serves as the CX Lead for LR, the oldest international maritime classification society. Previously, she held positions at Rosbank (part of the Societe Generale Group) and Colliers International, where she significantly improved customer satisfaction and loyalty. Elena is also a founding member of Women in CX. She is a certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) and is committed to continuous learning, currently focusing on behaviour design and change.

Michelle Ansell

The Woman in CX Technology Award

  • Douglas Jackson Limited

    Managing Partner

    Managing Partner at Douglas Jackson, an executive search firm helping CEOs, investors and business leaders hire more impactful, diverse leadership. Passionate about business, diversity, and customer-centricity, she also has served as a Judge and Chair of judges for over a decade with Awards International. Host of The Impact Room podcast, where we offer advice and wisdom to champion future leaders and inclusive workplaces. A business owner, speaker, and mentor, Michelle is dedicated to shaping high-performing teams that drive success.

Fiona Blades

The Inclusion Award

  • MESH Experience

    President and Chief Experience Officer

    Following a career in petfood marketing and agencies including Leo Burnett, Fiona launched MESH Experience to fill a gap in marketing effectiveness measurement.

    By capturing the whole customer experience, MESH delivers new metrics, like Share of Experience to global clients.

    Fiona is a Fellow of the Market Research Society, Past President of the Market Research Council in New York and a mentor for The Marketing Academy. An advocate for diversity, she founded diversityunlimited.org and she is also a founding partner of Crater Lake & Co.

Leonora Gouveia

The Innovation Award

  • SAS

    Sr Business Solutions Manager

    With nearly 20 years in MarTech, Leonora loves helping brands connect with customers in meaningful ways. She’s passionate about using technology to make experiences smarter, smoother, and more personal—no matter the industry. At SAS, she explores how AI and MarTech can truly make a difference. A lifelong learner, she’s always up for great conversations, new ideas, and a bit of fun! Outside work, she’s a wife, a mom to two little girls, and the proud owner of her fluffy Maltese terrier, Fifi. She’s also passionate about healthy living, running, baking, and self-development through books and podcasts.

Simone Wilson

The Woman in CX Technology Award

  • Ipsos America, Inc

    Vice President, Customer Experience

    Simone, a Certified Customer Experience Professional by CXPA, brings over 20 years of expertise in CX Measurement and Insights. Based in Toronto, Canada, Simone excels in developing and executing voice of customer strategies and CX vision in her role at Ipsos as VP Customer Experience. Guided by values of collaboration, innovation, diversity of ideas, service excellence, and a client-first mindset, Simone is dedicated to enhancing customer experiences.

DeAnna Avis

The Inclusion Award

  • Joyfully Different

    Director and Co-Founder

    DeAnna Avis is a speaker, consultant and coach dedicated to transforming workplaces into neuroinclusive environments where diverse minds thrive. As Co-Director of Joyfully Different, she helps businesses harness the strengths of neurodivergent talent, fostering cultures that drive innovation, engagement and sustainable growth. With a 15+ year background in customer experience, employee experience, and culture change, DeAnna has led award-winning programs that have measurably improved customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and profitability. She is named one of the top 25 CX influencers and blends real-world business expertise with lived experience as an autistic and ADHD professional, bringing a unique, human-centered approach to neuroinclusion.

    Her upcoming book, Neurodivergent Queen: A Manifesto of Empowerment and Being Unapologetically You, is a call to action for neurodivergent people to embrace their strengths, come out of the neurodivergent closet and create an aligned and authentic life.

    The future is neuroinclusive. Are you ready?

Clare Muscutt

The Leader of the Year Award

  • Women in CX

    Founder & CEO

    World Series Winner of CX Professional of the Year 2022 and Virgin Funded Founder, Clare Muscutt is human-centric design geek with 15 years leadership experience in FTSE 100’s including Whitbread, Sainsbury’s and Compass Group. She’s a global keynote speaker and consultant who made it her mission to support other women in her industry to rise-up. She believes in the power of collaboration over competition, investing in people, co-design and that the future blueprint for Customer Experience lies in bringing together diversity of opinion, experience and expertise.

Lara Khouri

The Rising Star Award
The Solopreneur of the Year Award

  • there is no spoon cx*ex*change leadership

    Founder

    Following a successful corporate career supporting blue-chip, UK-based multinationals with their international business development efforts, Lara founded there is no spoon, a boutique cx, ex, and change leadership consultancy and training provider in 2018.
    In 2022, she and her business partner, Rajeev Daswani, developed The CEO MakerTM the world's first empathy-based, business-focused coaching-consulting leadership accelerator.
    Lara is one of the female factor’s “New Era of Leadership” global leaders and a founding member of Women in CXTM (WiCX) and Playbook, a global female empowerment ecosystem.

Stephanie Linville

The Leader of the Year Award
The Woman in CX Technology Award

  • SKL Insights & Consulting

    Principal CX Consultant

    Stephanie Linville is an award-winning Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) with expertise in CX strategy, VoC insights, and digital CX transformation across industries such as financial services, SaaS, healthcare and transportation. A previous judge for the US CX Awards, co-author of CX3, and an active member of Women in CX and the CXPA, she is passionate about recognizing excellence in CX. Stephanie bridges customer insights with innovative solutions, advocating for empathy-driven experiences that inspire loyalty. She is honored to support the Women in CX Awards, celebrating the impact of women in the field.

Ksenia Levina

The Inclusion Award
The Culture Award

  • Grünenthal

    Global Customer Experience Lead

    I am a CX professional with 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device business and global perspective.

    Being a passionate advocate for customer experience, I am committed to connect CX, omnichannel engagement and marketing to help businesses design and deliver impactful experiences that foster customer loyalty and drive business outcomes.

    My expertise spans across leading CX and omnichannel transformation, change-management, building organisational capabilities and designing CX programs. And all of this – while fostering culture of excellence and driving innovation.

Vicky Hampson

The Rising Star Award
The Collaboration Award

  • Defy Expectations Ltd

    Chief Customer Officer

    Co-Founder of Defy Expectations Ltd, Vicky has compressed three decades of leadership, management, real-world wins, trips and learnings gained in some of the world’s leading organisations in Healthcare, Sporting Goods, Education and Technology sectors to help clients build better behaviours and skills needed to simplify complex problems, make tough decisions faster and deliver results with impact. These experiences are the fuel for Defy Expectations and Vicky’s passion for creating great leaders and managers at all levels.

Suannah Simmons

The Inclusion Award
The Solopreneur of the Year Award

  • Susannah Simmons

    Trainer, Coach & Cheerleader

    Susannah Simmons helps solo service providers take better care of themselves and their customers - because a healthy, sustainable business starts with a healthy owner and happy customers.

    With a background in digital transformation, customer education and fitness coaching, Susannah blends fitness, lifestyle coaching and customer wellbeing strategy and planning to help ambitious business owners choose the people, processes and tools that work for both them and their customers - prioritising health, energy and focus while creating exceptional, sustainable experiences.

Courageous

Authentic

Collaborative

Inclusive

Courageous Authentic Collaborative Inclusive

Timeline of Events

April 2nd, 2025

May 2nd, 2025

June 18, 2025

June 25, 2025

Nominations Open

Nominations Close

Finalists Announcement

Virtual Awards Ceremony

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